Audio books: Chasing Vermeer and The Calder Game

I discovered Blue Balliett by accident.  Close to the holidays, while finishing my Thesis, I had listened to part of an audio book with Blue (Christmas?) something or other in the title.  In an attempt to finish this listen, I typed "blue" into the search box of the trusty Overdrive app.  "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett came up, close to the top of the search, so I decided to give it a try, not really knowing what it was.  As I started to listen to the book, it became obvious it was actually a children's mystery book, but a rather wonderful one, full of wonder and promise and the excitement of being 11 years old and having the whole world in front of you, a feeling that is quite great to be reminded of.  If you like art mysteries, pentominoes (or want to know what pentominos are) then I would recommend this book, even if you are an "adult".

Another book featuring many of the same characters is "The Calder Game", which is centered in England and the mystery is surrounding statues and mobiles and a missing boy instead of a missing painting.  It had many of the same qualities of Chasing Vermeer, but to me was not quite as full of wonder and promise, although still worth the read, or listen.